Gunman, 4 others dead in Santa Monica shooting spree

Police and first responders head towards a reported shooting near Santa Monica College Friday. (Source: KABC/CNN)

The campus of Santa Monica College. (Source: Michael OH/Wikipedia)

SANTA MONICA, CA (RNN) - Four people are confirmed dead, and five others sustained injuries during a shooting rampage in Santa Monica Friday.

The shooter, who has yet to be identified, is also dead, shot in the library of Santa Monica College, according to Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks.

Police revised the death count from six deaths to four Friday night.

"Today's incident is not a college school shooting. It is rather a series of shootings that occurred in the city of Santa Monica and culminated in a shooting that happened at Santa Monica College," said Seabrooks.

The initial 911 call that came in at 11:52 a.m. Friday was for a home that was on fire. Inside, firefighters found two men were shot to death.

The Associated Press reports that the two men shot in the home were the suspect's father and brother. Santa Monica Police has yet to confirm any relation with the first two victims and the shooter.

The fire is currently being investigated, and is being called "suspicious," Captain Jason Wells of the Santa Monica Fire Department said.

After that, the suspect carjacked a vehicle, shot at a bus and eventually shot at a red Ford Explorer. Two passengers in the Explorer were hit. One died and the second is in critical condition at UCLA.

The gunman then ran onto the Santa Monica College campus, firing at women on campus, one of whom died. He made his way to the school's library, where he was shot dead by police.

It is still unclear if there was any motive or the reason why the shooting spree occurred. Police believe that the deceased shooter acted alone.

Five victims of the shooting spree are in area hospitals.

"I can report we received three patients, one of them has died and another is in surgery and is very critical," said Chief of Emergency Medicine at UCLA Medical Center Dr. Marshall Morgan.

He also reported that another victim is doing well, although they are listing her condition as serious. He said the injuries were consistent with gunshots.

Three other patients were sent to the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica with minor injuries and have since been treated and released.

A person of interest questioned by police has since been released after police determined they were not part of the shooting spree.

Campus witness Jimes Gillespie told the Associated Press he saw the shooter, describing him as a white man, mid-20s wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls. He said the shooter was also carrying a shotgun.

Gillespie said he was in the school's library when he heard the shooting begin and began fleeing with other students.

Although he saw only one shooter, he heard two different types of gunfire - a shotgun and a handgun - and believes there was a second shooter.

"The shotgun blast was first. It was either him or the partner who shot eight to 10 handgun shots," Gillespie said. "Then after I saw the gunman I heard more shots and I ran out of the library through the emergency exit."

Several witnesses have corroborated that the gunman was wearing black and body armor.

Nearby area schools were placed on lockdown.

The students on campus were preparing for finals. Santa Monica College is a two-year college of nearly 34,000 students in the Los Angeles suburb.

All finals have been canceled for the day. The school will remain closed through Sunday.

Brett Holzhauer was attending his final day at Santa Monica when he heard gunshots. He and some friends dove into a study room to take cover.

"We were fearing for our lives, not knowing what to do … but I was trained as a lifeguard, so in times of stress, you're trained to keep calm and wait it out," he said.

Eventually, the police swarmed in and told them to crawl out of the room on their hands and knees.